The Two of Me
by StaindRedGlass
Summary: STORY 21: The death of a marine leads the team into an investigation where the murder victim isn't actually dead. In the case where the victim is the witness, the team must uncover the mystery that surrounds the marine before he dies again.
1. Chapter 1

Here's the 21st story in my series. If you haven't read the other stories, then I advise you to not proceed until you do. This is a series. It runs in sequence. To understand certain things (especially where Jamie came from), it's best to just start at the beginning. This series is kind of like my very own NCIS season 4. As of this point, the series consists of: story 1 A Link to the Past (comes in 3 parts)… story 2 Wrong Place, Wrong Time… story 3 Second Job… story 4 Daughters… story 5 A Personal Vendetta… story 6 Bless the Children… story 7 Eyes of the Condemned… story 8 Disturbing Affection… story 9 No Man Left Behind (story that introduces Chioke; aka Kid)… story 10 Finger Swap… story 11 Imperfect Heist… story 12 The Color of Skin… story 13 Death to the Jedi… story 14 Brotherly Love… story 15 For the Love of a Child… story 16 Devil's Playground… story 17 Forced Alliance… story 18 Firing up the Screws… story 19 Close to Home (story that introduces Julianna)… story 20 Last Place on Earth… story 21 The Two of Me (current story). Hope you enjoy it.

**--**

**Saturday**

**Chapter 1**

Sometime after dawn in Baghdad, Iraq, a couple marines are in an abandoned complex which has been fortified to be a Forward Operation Center. Inside the sleeping quarters, the marines are leisurely getting ready for an operation into the Red Zone an hour from now. One marine, Corporal David McAvoy, is sitting on his cot writing a letter. Another marine, a sergeant major, is nearby and closely monitoring what the corporal is doing. The sergeant approaches.

"I hope you're not writing your will, Corporal."

"I don't plan on dying anytime soon." The corporal stated. "I'm just writing a letter to my wife."

"Your wife…? You never mentioned a wife before."

"I don't know. I guess it slipped my mind. But yeah, I have a wife. We met…"

"Hold that thought. I'll be right back."

The sergeant major walks to his belongings and uses the key from around his neck to unlock a small box. Once the box is open, he takes out the secured satellite phone contained inside. The sergeant leaves the sleeping quarters in order to find an isolated area where he can make a private phone-call.

The sergeant major dials a number.

Somewhere at a private residence in the Washington D.C. area, a phone starts ringing in the bedroom of a man trying to sleep since its nine hours earlier than in Iraq. The man wakes up. His hand reaches for the phone and picks it up.

"This better be important." The man stated groggily.

"The subject remembers." The sergeant major stated. "He's writing a letter to the wife right now."

"The subject isn't supposed to remember. He shouldn't. We made sure of it."

"Yeah well, he does. What are your orders?"

"Intercept the letter, burn it and terminate the subject. Make it look as if he was killed by the enemy. We can't allow the subject's memories to jeopardize the future of the project."

"What about…"

"Don't worry about the body. When the body is sent back to the states, I'll have my investor intercept it." The man said. "Just get your part done."

The man hangs up. The marine turns the secured satellite phone off and walks out of the private room in order to return to the sleeping quarters.

The man lies in bed reluctant to make a call to his investor, especially after promising the subject wouldn't remember. Unfortunately for him, the investor is a powerful man who will eventually find out, so there's no choice to cover it up from the investor. It's a call he doesn't want to make but knows he has to.

The man opens the drawer to the nightstand. He takes out a disposable phone and dials a number.

The phone rings in the office of Geoffrey Benson at his private residence. After placing his pen down, he picks up the phone.

"Yes?" Mr. Benson wondered why he's being bothered at this time in the night.

"There seems to be a slight problem with the Chambers Project." The man said.

"You know I hate problems."

"The subject of the project remembers the wife. I received a call a couple minutes ago that the subject is…"

"You better get a handle on the situation, Doctor. Your assurance for having the subject's memories under control is why I invested in the project. And now you're telling me you lost control. Figure out what went wrong."

"This is nothing that can't be fixed, Sir. Our watchdog is going to terminate the subject. And I'll have all records of his existence erased. His body will be sent back to the states, but I…"

"You need my people to steal the body, don't you?"

"Yes, Sir." The man said. "Once the body is destroyed, it'll be like he never existed. Then we can start over."

"I'll have one of my people handle your mess when it arrives in the states. But my patience is wearing thin, Dr. Brock."

"I apologize, Sir. I'm so sorry for this inconvenience. It's a minor setback that won't happen again."

"It better not, Doctor. Because if it does, the only inconvenience I'll be dealing with is how to dispose of your corpse."

Geoffrey Benson hangs up the phone. For a couple seconds, he remains seated in his chair in order to think. A couple seconds pass. He looks across the desk at the person sitting in the chair in front.

"I need you to steal a body for me." Mr. Benson said.

"As much as I'd love to help you out, Geoffrey, I…" Jared Lucas Gibbs begins to say.

"It's stealing a body from the military. The Marine Corps to be exact." Mr. Benson stated. "It might give you a chance to say, hi, to your brother."

"You certainly know how to spark my interest." Jared stated with a sinister smile because he knows NCIS will investigate the theft of the marine body. It could be a nice opportunity for him to mess with his brother's head or even further his own devious agenda.

Meanwhile, at the Gibbs residence, it's still nine hours earlier than Iraq time. With it being late Friday night, Gibbs is downstairs working on the boat. As he works on the boat, he takes a deep breath and puts the tool down because an odd feeling suddenly hit him. Gibbs exits from the basement and walks upstairs.

Gibbs continues to walk up the stairs to the second floor. As Gibbs approaches the door to Julianna's room, he hears whimpering coming from the room. He opens the door and enters.

"Julianna… Are you alright?" Gibbs asked in concern for the eight-year-old girl he was awarded temporary custody of just yesterday. He sits on the bed; still without a response from the whimpering Julianna who is lying on her side, not facing him. "Julianna…?"

"I'm afraid I'll forget what my mother looks like." Julianna finally said as she wipes a tear from her eye.

"I know you'll never forget what your mother looks like."

"How do you know?" Julianna asked as she turns her body in order to look at Gibbs.

"I just know." Gibbs said with a slight smile as he wipes a tear from her eye.

There's a moment of silence as Gibbs reads Julianna's body language. He can tell there's something she wants to ask.

"Whatever you want to ask me, you can ask."

"How long did it take for you to stop hurting after losing the red-haired lady?"

There's a brief hesitation from Gibbs as the question Julianna asked doesn't have a simple answer; it still hurts him to this day.

"You'll never forget your mother, Julianna. You'll always remember her. But it'll take some time for the hurt to go away."

Gibbs leans down and kisses Julianna on the forehead. He stands up, tucks her in and walks to the door.

"The red-haired lady loves you." Julianna said as Gibbs stops in the doorway.

"I know she does."

"In your closet is a loose floorboard in the back. The red-haired lady wants you to see what's there."

"Did she say anything else?" Gibbs wondered what else Shannon might have said during Julianna's near death experience the previous week. The near death experience occurred as a result of the car accident Julianna was in and Gibbs witnessed.

"No."

"Good night, Julianna."

"Good night, Jethro."

Julianna closes her eyes and tries to go to sleep. Gibbs exits from the room and turns the hallway light off.

Gibbs enters into his bedroom. He walks to the closet and opens the door. After pulling out the boxes of Shannon's belongings from the back, he searches around for the loose floorboard.

Gibbs' hand reaches back into the closet, near the corner to the left. His hand discovers the loose floorboard and detaches it.

Inside Shannon's secret hiding spot is a dusty book; a diary. Shannon wanted him to find it. She made sure the message was given to someone who could pass it along. Gibbs can't help but think that maybe the only reason Julianna lived through the ordeal is because Shannon made sure of it. Whatever the reason for Julianna being alive, there's a chance the diary holds an answer.

Gibbs reaches into the secret hiding spot and lifts the diary. The amount of dirt and dust that accumulated on the diary is abundant after sixteen years. Gibbs gently blows on the diary. A small dirt and dust cloud is created.

After the dirt and dust settles, he sits in the closet and opens the diary.

**Shannon's diary: entry number one**

I've been writing diaries since I was a teenager. Today, I start my 5th diary. And I think I know what the majority of this diary will be about.

I met a guy today at a 4th of July barbeque. The guy's name is Jethro Gibbs. A mutual friend introduced us. I could tell he was nervous. So was I. Jethro probably thinks he made such a fool of himself. He dropped his beer on my shoe, managed to squirt ketchup on my shirt and caused me to fall into the pool. I admit the day was full of mishaps, but I wouldn't change today for anything in the world. My friend told me he's never seen an uncomfortably nervous Jethro before. His nervousness was adorably irresistible. I know Jethro really likes me. And I really like him too. He left a couple minutes after the pool incident. I guess he felt he totally blew it and didn't want to embarrass himself further. Sadness swept over me after he left; like a part of me suddenly stopped breathing and died. I never felt that way about a guy before. The barbeque wasn't the same without him. An hour later, I heard a couple friends talking about going camping next weekend. I'm not one for camping. I'll go camping, but I don't get excited over it as my other friends do. The thought of being bothered by pesky insects, raccoons and not having an actual bed doesn't thrill me. But when I heard Jethro is going, I practically begged my friend if I can go. I don't know what it is about Jethro that I like so much, but I'll see him next weekend. I'm excited at the thought of seeing him again. I just hope he doesn't back out, because he's the only reason I'm going.

I hope Jethro asks me out. I really think he might be the one.

**End diary entry**

Gibbs closes the diary and laughs slightly as he remembers the mishaps and how nervous he was the first day he met Shannon. The only woman to ever make him nervous was Shannon. But that's because no woman has ever made him feel the way Shannon did. Gibbs never believed in love at first sight, but after that day, it was a little hard to keep not believing in the possibility.

He plans on reading more of the diary entries later. But for now, Gibbs is rather tired and decides to go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A couple days later**

**Tuesday**

**Chapter 2**

Tony's alarm clock starts buzzing almost half an hour before his usual wake-up time. He quickly turns the alarm off and hops out of bed. Jamie remains in the bed and tosses the covers over herself. She certainly doesn't care for this new race her father and Tony started on Friday.

Tony runs into the bathroom and closes the door. He turns the water on to the shower, strips down and checks the water temperature. With the water temperature being perfectly warm, he hops inside the shower.

After taking a shower and getting fully dressed, Tony enters into Chioke's room in order to wake him up to get ready for school. Chioke gets dressed.

With Chioke now in the kitchen eating breakfast, Tony walks to the front door. He opens the door and looks toward the house to the right; Gibbs' house. Gibbs' car is still in the driveway.

Minutes later, Tony and Chioke exit from the house. Gibbs' car is still in the driveway. Tony locks the front door. He and Chioke walk to the car in their own driveway.

As Tony unlocks the passenger side door to let Chioke in, he notices Gibbs' front door opens. Gibbs and eight-year-old Julianna exit from the house. Tony closes the passenger side door and walks around the car.

"Looks like we beat you today, Boss."

"Not going to happen, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he and Julianna walk to the car in their driveway.

"I'll be out of my driveway before you even get into your car." Tony opens the driver's side door.

"I highly doubt it." Gibbs motions for Tony to look down and to the back of the car.

Tony looks to the back wheel of his car. What his eyes behold is a tire clamp, or what some people refer to as a tire boot. The expression on Tony's face is priceless to Gibbs.

"Oh come on!" Tony exclaimed as he gets out of the car and looks at the tire boot.

Gibbs and Julianna enter into their car. The car is started as Tony walks across the dividing strip of grass and onto Gibbs' property.

"I need to take Chioke to school." Tony said as he taps on the glass of the passenger side window. Julianna opens the window.

"I'm sure you'll get him to school with no problem." Gibbs stated.

"Not with a tire boot on my back wheel."

"I can't help you because I have to take Julianna to school."

The car moves backward. Tony follows as he really needs the tire boot to be taken off so he can leave.

"Gibbs…"

"The tire boot isn't even locked, DiNozzo."

After seeing the expression on Tony's face, Gibbs smirks and drives away because he and Julianna win with being the first ones to leave their driveway. Tony walks to the car, leans down and grabs the tire boot. It slips right off. Tony shakes his head.

"You cheater…" Tony muttered softly to himself.

He tosses the tire boot in the trunk and enters into the driver's seat.

'Why we not win? We leave house first.' Chioke signed with his hands as he doesn't understand why Gibbs and Julianna won the race.

"Cause Grandpa Gibbs cheated." Tony said. "He put a tire boot on the back wheel so I thought we couldn't move."

'How do large tire fit in boot?' Chioke signed because he doesn't understand what a tire boot is and is thinking about boots on feet.

"A tire boot isn't like a boot you put on your foot. It's just a metal thing to prevent a car from being able to move."

'That not fair! He cheat.'

"We'll get him back. I have a plan."

The car finally leaves the driveway.

Tony arrives at the Navy Yard a couple minutes after dropping Chioke off at school. Traffic was surprisingly non-existent between the two which aren't too far apart to begin with.

Tony exits from the elevator onto the third floor. He walks in the direction of the bullpen where Ziva and McGee are already sitting at their desks. Tony places his things down and notices McGee is fully immersed in what he's doing at the computer. He wonders what geeky thing could possibly be holding McGee's attention to the point where he's almost glued to the screen.

Tony finally sees what it is; McGee is playing a video game that he recently installed on the computer. Without even realizing Tony arrived, McGee continues playing as Tony is standing next to him.

"Good morning, Boss." Tony said.

McGee quickly hides the video game controller and minimizes the game as he doesn't want to be caught by Gibbs. He quickly catches on that Gibbs isn't even in the area and Tony only said that to make him jump.

"Funny, DiNozzo." McGee said. He continues playing his game.

"Have I ever told you you're a geek?" Tony asked.

"No, I don't think you ever have." McGee said in a sarcastic tone of voice as he rolls his eyes slightly.

"It's truly sad when you can't get enough of playing video games that you end up installing a game at work. You're an addict, McGeek. A girlfriend would do you good." Tony stated. "Retreating into these little fantasy-type worlds where artificial intelligence actually listens to you because real-life intelligence won't. Someday, people will listen to you and you'll actually be a hero…" He laughs. "I couldn't even say that with a straight face."

"What's he playing?" Ziva asked from across the bullpen.

"Some superhero game… Looks like something with Marvel characters."

"It's Marvel Ultimate Alliance." McGee stated the name of the video game.

"I don't even know what Marvel is." Ziva said.

"Of course you don't." Tony said. "Yet another thing I have to explain to…" He stops from continuing the comment due to a crumpled-up piece of paper hitting him in the head. "You know, Ziva… What you just did could be considered a form of assault which I think you should apologize for."

"Aww, are the poor baby's feelings hurt? At least I didn't throw a book."

"Maybe you should keep a book within arm's reach for next time." McGee said.

"Good idea, McGee." Ziva said.

Tony smacks McGee on the back of the head for giving Ziva the idea.

"Is this two player?" Tony wondered. "Let me get in on this."

"You're the making fun of me and now you want to play." McGee sighed in disbelief. He puts the game on pause, opens the bottom drawer of the desk, takes out a second controller and plugs it in. Tony rolls his chair over and sits down. "We get four characters to play as at all times; two of which will be controlled by AI for the most part. You can switch between characters anytime you want. They make up your team. My team consists of; Captain America, Iron Man, Silver Surfer and Wolverine."

"I want to play as Wolverine." Tony said as McGee hands him the second controller.

While at her desk, Ziva shakes her head as Tony and McGee are playing the video game.

Gibbs finally enters into the bullpen.

"I was just telling McGee he shouldn't have an unauthorized video game installed on his computer, Boss." Tony stated as he jolts up from the chair and drops the controller into McGee's lap. "As senior field agent, I know it's wrong to…"

"Is that right, DiNozzo? So asking if you could play as Wolverine means you weren't interested in playing?"

"You must teach me your secrets, oh master of exceptional hearing." Tony bows slightly. Gibbs smacks him on the back of the head. "Don't appreciate bowing, eh Boss."

"I'm uninstalling the game now, Boss." McGee said as he exits from the game in order to uninstall it.

"Later, McGee… We have a dead marine." Gibbs said. "Gear up."

"I'll call Ducky." Tony grabs his phone to make the call.

"Won't be necessary, DiNozzo. The body was stolen."

Gibbs exits from the bullpen and makes his way to the elevator. The others follow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The team arrives at the airport where the marine body of David McAvoy was stolen from a cargo plane not too long ago. Near the hanger is the plane, three marines who were supposed to escort the body to NCIS Headquarters, the two pilots and an ambulance. Two of the marines acquired injuries which are being taken care of.

The team exits from the two vehicles, they grab their gear from the truck and walk in the direction of the plane.

"Ziva, pictures…" Gibbs starts handing out assignments while they walk. "Tony, sketches… McGee, bag and tag. Go."

The three of them keep walking toward the plane while Gibbs stops at the ambulance where the marines are.

"Hold still." The paramedic said as she tilts one marine's head to the side in order to take care of the gash near his ear.

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS." Gibbs flashes his badge to them. "Tell me what happened."

"Everything was going fine, Agent Gibbs." The first marine stated. "We were ordered to pick-up the body of a fallen marine and escort it to NCIS."

"The plane arrived on-time and we entered into the back in order to get the body." The second marine said.

"And that's when we were attacked." The third marine, whose gash is being taken care of, added to the conversation. "Of course I was outside of the plane at the time and got the worst of the attack."

"None of us expected anyone would want to steal a body, so we were completely caught off guard." The first marine added.

"I don't even know what hit me. It felt like a bat or something." The third marine said. "Never saw anyone coming."

"I was stabbed with a syringe." The second marine stated as he shows the injection site on his neck.

"And I got both; hit with something and stabbed with a syringe." The first marine said. "I wasn't hit as hard as him, though."

"I'll need a blood sample from both…" Gibbs begins to say.

"Already drawn and labeled." The paramedic stated as she points to the samples she already took from the two marines who were stabbed with a syringe.

"I insisted upon it." The first marine stated.

"Good, you guys thought ahead." Gibbs said.

"Only trying to help, Agent Gibbs." The first marine said. "We're marines. The man we were supposed to escort was a marine. He gave his life for this country. We owe him all the courtesy of helping any way we can to get his body back. So yes, I insisted on blood samples. Semper Fi."

"Is there anything you can tell me about the attacker?" Gibbs asked.

Each of the marines shake their head as none of them even got a look at who attacked them. Through this whole conversation so far, he could tell the marines were telling the truth and have nothing to do with what happened. So there are no suspects at this point.

"If you guys think of anything else, here's my card." Gibbs hands each of them a business card with his contact information.

Meanwhile, inside the plane, the rest of the team is processing the cargo hold of the plane; paying extra attention to the specific area in which the body was stolen from.

"What do we have?" Gibbs asked upon entering into the cargo hold.

"Besides nothing?" Tony replied. "Cause that's what we have… Nothing." He notices Gibbs glaring at him. "Um… But we'll continue to process the plane until we find something more than nothing." He turns away and goes back to work.

"I don't want to hear the word, nothing, come out of your mouth again, DiNozzo." Gibbs stated as he walks away.

"Nothing." Tony muttered softly to himself.

Within seconds, Tony receives a smack to the back of the head.

"You REALLY have good hearing, Boss." Tony stated in amazement.

"I hear more than I'd like, DiNozzo."

"You're not implying last night, are you?"

Gibbs nods as it was last night he was referring to.

"We'll try to keep it down, Boss."

Gibbs exits from the plane. Ziva and McGee look at Tony.

"Keep what down?" McGee wondered.

"He can't be serious." Tony said while looking at Ziva but pointing at McGee with his thumb.

"McGee…" Ziva tries to get his attention. "Think of them living next door to each other, which they do. Now think of Tony and Jamie having sex in…"

"Ugh!!" Tony exclaimed in disgust. "Don't put the idea of me and Jamie in his head! I don't want him visualizing me like that."

"Oh! I get it now!" McGee exclaimed. "Sex between them is so loud that Gibbs can hear it from the next house."

"Why do I suddenly feel violated?" Tony wondered. He notices McGee is looking at him with a slight smile of laughter upon his face. Tony feels uncomfortable and covers his private area with his hands. "Stop undressing me with your eyes, Probie!"

"I'm not undressing you with my eyes, Tony."

"It sure looks like it." Tony said. He covers his private area again. "Seriously, Probie, you're making me uncomfortable. Stop it."

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Ha!" Tony laughed. "So you admit to not working! Shame on you, Probie. Expecting me and Ziva to do everything."

"What?! You're not working either!"

"I could actually work if you would stop…"

Both Tony and McGee receive a smack to the back of the head.

"Shutting up, Boss." Both Tony and McGee said.

"The body has been found by Metro police." Gibbs stated. "Ziva, McGee… Finish processing here and don't forget the blood samples the paramedic took. As for you, DiNozzo… You're with me." His finger motions for him to follow.

"Do I have a choice in the matter? Cause I'd prefer to stay…" Tony notices Gibbs glaring at him. "Thought not… Coming, Boss."

Tony and Gibbs exit from the plane while Ziva and McGee continue to process it for any possible evidence.

"Ever since marrying Jamie…" McGee begins to say. "…Tony seems to not know when to quit. It's like he pushes the line to see how far it can go without breaking."

"One of the perks to marrying the boss's daughter, I guess." Ziva responded.

Gibbs and Tony make their way to an old factory where Metro police stopped the marine's body from being disposed of into the incinerator. The reason Metro police are there is because of the silent alarm that went off when whoever stole the body trespassed onto the private property. The marine body was seconds away from being destroyed. And the perpetrator got away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

With the plane completely processed, statements taken and the body recovered, the team is now at NCIS Headquarters. The body is down in Autopsy with Ducky. The collected evidence is in the Forensics Lab with Abby. And the team is up on the third floor trying to figure things out.

"Okay, thank you." Tony puts the phone down. "Yeah, thanks for nothing." He said as he crosses the phone number off from the list on his desk.

"This is impossible!" McGee said as he slams down on his keyboard out of frustration.

"I told you a dating website wouldn't help you." Tony said.

"For your information I've had a couple contacts through the site."

"Haha!" Tony busts out laughing. "What website do you use? DesperateVirginGeekLove dot com?"

"What's impossible, McGee?" Ziva asked to change the topic.

"I can't find anything on David McAvoy. He's not in the database at all."

"Maybe your investigative skills need fine tuning." Tony commented.

"Have you found any information?" McGee wondered.

"It takes a highly trained investigator such myself to find information in the most unlikely of places." He stands up proudly. "It's my investigative skills that set the standard for…" Tony begins to say.

"He found nothing." Ziva stated.

"You're right, I have nothing." Tony quickly looks around as he expected a smack to the back of the head due to saying the word, nothing. He sits down.

"I don't have anything either." Ziva commented.

"It's like the guy doesn't exist." McGee stated.

"That's not what I want to hear, McGee." Gibbs said upon entering into the bullpen. "And smack yourself on the back of the head for saying the word, nothing, DiNozzo."

Tony smacks himself on the back of the head as Gibbs ordered.

"Boss…" McGee tries to get his attention. "There's no record of a David McAvoy in the Marine Corps. There's no record of him in any military service."

"He also doesn't exist in real life either." Tony stated.

"No family. No bank records. No place of residence. No birth certificate." Ziva added.

"And no anything else." Tony said. "Do we even have the correct name and body? Cause we ran facial recognition software and still came up with noth… Uh… With… Umm… I really don't want to finish my sentence so I'll just shut up now."

"I asked Abby to run the John Doe's DNA through the database, but she's unable to process any samples since the mass spec isn't working." McGee stated. "A technician is coming later in order to fix it. I'd fix it myself, but I have no idea how."

Gibbs says nothing. He just walks away. As he walks away, Gibbs wonders who the body down in Autopsy is. For now, the body down in Autopsy is a 'John Doe' since his identity is unknown.

The team continues trying to find something that can shed light on the current mystery body downstairs. Minutes later, Lewis Matheson steps off the elevator.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Tony stands up and walks around the desk to greet Lewis. He steps out of the bullpen.

"A cat didn't drag him in." Ziva said while looking at McGee to explain.

"I'm going to buy you a book of American idioms for your birthday." McGee said because he really doesn't feel like explaining what it means.

"Thank you, McGee." Ziva said. "That's very thoughtful of you."

Tony and Lewis walk into the bullpen.

"So this is where the infamous Simon Trent works." Lewis said. Tony looks at him with a confused expression upon his face. "Just kidding, Tony… I know Simon was only your undercover name."

"You scared me there. I thought you forgot me. What have you been up to since you got out?" Tony asked in reference to his extraction from the prison known as The Last Place on Earth.

"I've been busy helping the SecNav. I was able to provide his people with enough Intel for them to proceed into an investigation and make an arrest." Lewis stated. "And my name has been cleared thanks to you believing in my innocence."

"That's great, man!" Tony exclaimed. "I'm happy to hear things are getting back to normal. And I'm glad to have helped."

"Yeah, it's slowly getting back to normal." Lewis said. "The Navy has kindly provided me with everything I need to get back on my feet. I was even offered a job."

"Did you take it? Or considering it at all?"

"I told them I would think about it." Lewis said. "It's a good position; Special Operations training and command. But I'm still kind weary of the Navy after everything that's happened."

"I don't blame you."

"The important thing is I have my life back. It sucks that I have six years worth of movies to catch-up on so I need to find the closest Blockbuster."

"You've come to the right place, my friend."

"Oh geez…" McGee muttered softly to himself as he shakes his head.

"Don't waste the money on rentals. Just give me your phone number and I'll hook you up. I have tons of DVDs at home. I think I have more movies than Blockbuster anyway. You can borrow whatever you want."

"Thanks, Bro."

Tony and Lewis exchange contact information.

"Stop by the house around seven or so." Tony said. "If for some reason I'm not home, than I'm next door. If you're looking directly at my house, it's the house to the left."

"Alright." Lewis said. "See you around, Tony."

"Later."

Lewis Matheson walks away in order to leave NCIS Headquarters because he only came to make a quick visit to Tony since he was in the area. Once on the elevator, the doors close.

Gibbs walks down the back stairs after leaving MTAC where he was in contact with commanding officers in Iraq via satellite. It took a couple tries to find a commanding officer who recognized their mystery marine.

"We have the correct body." Gibbs stated as he re-enters into the bullpen. "I showed a picture of our mystery man to commanding officers in Iraq. One of them confirms the body of the man downstairs was under his command. He's shocked the marine might not be who he said he was." There's a brief pause. "He's going to ask around, but doesn't expect any helpful Intel to be found." Gibbs walks to the plasma screen and points to it; the picture of the dead 'John Doe' is on the screen. "Everyone thought he was David McAvoy and I want to know why! I want to know who he is and why there's no record of his existence! We have his body downstairs. He does exist. Find something!"

Gibbs exits from the bullpen. The mystery of the John Doe's identity is proving to be complicated. Gibbs needs to think. And the best place to do so is down in his basement.

Once home, Gibbs goes upstairs to get Shannon's diary. Then he makes his way to the basement.

Gibbs sits down near the unfinished boat that he and his daughter Jamie are making. He's already read quite a few entries, so now he'll pick-up where he left off.

Gibbs opens the diary and starts reading.

**Shannon's diary: entry number nineteen**

Today, I found out why Jethro has some intimacy issues. For the longest time I thought it was me but I was wrong. What I thought was far from the truth. I felt like I forced the reason out of him. What he explained is something I never expected. And it made my heart break.

Jethro has never told me about his childhood until now. I should've realized the possibility that his childhood was complete torment when he always avoided or changed the subject. I guess I never wanted to believe the man I loved may have been abused as a child. But he told me.

The things his father did to him are unforgivable. No child should have to endure such abuse. And to make matters worse, his brother Jared also abused him. The only thing that gave him hope was his younger sister Kelly. But her life was tragically cut short due to Jared. Jethro told me what happened on the bridge that day. I can tell he still feels guilty over Kelly's death. It wasn't his fault and he knows it. But he can't escape the feeling that it was his fault for not protecting her or sending her home. The circumstances surrounding Kelly's death are a guilt he lives with every single day. Jethro felt empty after her death. He gave up hope.

Just thinking about what he went through as a child makes me cry. I hate the thought of him bottling up all this pain because of an abusive father and tormenting brother. I won't give up on him. I'll never give up on him.

Jethro wants to be a father someday. It seems to be what he wants most in his future. I'll never forget what he said; "Having a child and being the best father I can be will be my way of putting right what was done wrong with me." I think Jethro being a father is the only true way to lay some unresolved issues to rest in his heart.

There was no talk about marriage between us, but if he ever asks me to marry him, my answer will be 'yes'. I can't think of anyone else I would rather spend the rest of my life with. He may have some unresolved issues, but I love the man with all my heart and soul. He means the world to me. If we ever marry and have a child, hopefully a girl, I'd want her name to be 'Kelly'; named after Jethro's sister.

**End diary entry**

Gibbs closes the diary. He looks at the wedding band around his ring finger; the wedding band Shannon gave to him. Shannon was his first and only true love. She was the first woman he was ever truly intimate with; on a physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual level. Gibbs can't help but miss the woman he'll never stop loving.

A slight smile stretches across Gibbs' face as he thinks about all the good times he and Shannon shared together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

In the evening, Jamie is in the kitchen gathering a couple things which will be brought next door to her father's house. The plan is for a family dinner; Jamie, Tony, Chioke, Gibbs and Julianna. Chioke is in the kitchen with Jamie in order to help carry things. Tony walks by the kitchen and motions for Chioke to come over since Jamie is distracted. He complies by following Tony.

'I help mommy.' Chioke signed with his hands as he approaches Tony in the next room.

"I see that. You're a very good boy for helping mommy." Tony praised him. "We need to talk about tomorrow because we need to beat Grandpa Gibbs out of the driveway."

'We need get him good!'

"Here's what we're going to do… We're going to take his car key. I'll distract him so you can get the key from his keychain. So in the morning, he won't be able to start his car since we'll have the key."

'Is take key steal?'

"It's not stealing if we're going to give it back." Tony stated. "Now go back in the kitchen and help mommy."

Chioke runs back into the kitchen to help Jamie. Tony's devious plan of stealing Gibbs' car key in order to win the race will be underway shortly. Though, his desire to win the race may have clouded his judgment in teaching Chioke right from wrong.

Eventually, the three of them leave the house. They walk across the dividing strip of grass and unto Gibbs' property. Each of them is carrying something to the house.

Once inside Gibbs' house, the three of them immediately walk to the kitchen to put the food and other stuff down. Jamie promptly starts preparing dinner after receiving a kiss on the forehead from her father.

As Tony keeps Gibbs distracted by starting up a conversation, Chioke slips away and heads toward the front door where Gibbs keeps his keychain. Chioke looks around the area to make sure no one is there to see him. He examines the keys on the keychain; looking for the correct one. There's a symbol on one of the keys and it matches the symbol on Gibbs' car, so he figures it's the correct key. Chioke tries to take the key off the keychain but he's having trouble figuring out how to do so.

After two minutes, Chioke manages to extract the key from the loop of the keychain. Chioke runs into the kitchen and reaches his arms in the air for Tony to pick him up. Tony complies and lifts him up. While in Tony's arms and at a time Gibbs isn't looking, Chioke transfers the key to Tony.

Seconds later, Julianna runs down the stairs and enters into the kitchen.

"Good evening." Julianna greeted the guests.

"Hi Jules." Jamie greeted her back.

"Hey Julie." Tony also greeted her.

At the sight of his friend Julianna, Chioke begins to squirm so Tony sets him down on the floor. Chioke approaches Julianna with a big smile on his face as he's overjoyed to see her.

"May we be excused?" Julianna asked while looking at Gibbs.

"Sure." Gibbs replied.

"Come on, Chioke." Julianna said as she places her hand into Chioke's. They leave the kitchen and go upstairs.

A minute passes.

"It's cute how Chioke has taken to Jules." Jamie said while she's cutting a piece of chicken.

"Chioke refuses to watch Barney because Julie said she doesn't like Barney." Tony stated. "It's just as well because now I don't have to go through the torture of watching Barney with him anymore."

"He looks up to Julianna." Gibbs stated. "So he's trying to impress her."

"I think its adorable how he tries to impress and be like her." Jamie said. "I'm just glad the two of them are friends; especially that she accepts him." She added in reference to Chioke having trouble making friends since he's unable to speak. Jamie turns around. "Are either of you actually going to help me?"

Gibbs and Tony look at each other; each looking for the other to offer help in preparing dinner.

"Tony said he would help earlier." Gibbs said.

"Gibbs told me not to lift a finger because he would love to help." Tony said.

"I'm your boss and ordering you to help her."

"You're only my boss at work. And last time I checked, we're not at work." Tony said. "Besides, you should help because she's your daughter."

"She's your wife."

"I bought the food."

"You're in my house and using my dishes."

"Well…" Tony begins to say.

Jamie grabs both of them by the ear.

"Oh, eww!" Tony cried in disgust because of Jamie's fingers with chicken-goo on them are touching his ear. "You couldn't wipe your hand before touching me?"

"You're both helping me whether you like it or not." Jamie threatened.

"But…"

"Don't fight it, DiNozzo." Gibbs stopped him. "You married a Gibbs. We're stubborn by nature."

"Point taken."

Gibbs and Tony help Jamie prepare and cook the family dinner; homemade chicken parmesan with a side of salad.

Some time passes.

Once the food is cooked and ready to be eaten, they place everything on the kitchen table and call the kids down for dinner. They all sit at the round table and put food on their plates.

While eating, Chioke looks across the table at Julianna. He notices she's using adult utensils while he's using kiddy utensils. Chioke slides off from his chair, walks to the utensil drawer and opens it.

With adult utensils in hand, Chioke walks back to the table and sits down. He looks across at Julianna who is continuing to eat. Chioke looks to his own plate and starts trying to use the adult utensils.

Tony and the others notice Chioke is having trouble getting a grip on cutting his chicken with the adult fork and knife. As he tries to cut the meat, the fork and knife slip from his hands. The knife hits the plate, the fork flings to the side and a piece of chicken slides off the plate onto the table.

"Let me help you." Tony leans closer.

'I can do it. Need no help.' Chioke signed. Tony gives him the knife. Chioke tries again, but his little hands aren't able to handle the big utensils properly.

As Chioke continues to struggle, Julianna gets up and walks to the utensil drawer. Julianna returns to the table with kiddy utensils and begins using them in order to eat her food. Chioke sees this and within seconds, he makes the switch back to the kiddy utensils.

There's a knock at the door. Gibbs walks to the door and opens it.

"Hi… Is Tony here?" Lewis Matheson wondered. "He told me to come next door if he wasn't home."

"Come in." Gibbs welcomed him into his home. Lewis enters into the house.

"I didn't realize it's seven." Tony said as he approaches into the foyer.

"I'm here to check out your movie collection."

"We're actually eating dinner at the moment." Tony said.

"Come join us, Lewis." Gibbs offered. "I'm sure you'd appreciate a home-made meal."

"I don't want to impose. I just came for movies since Tony offered them."

"You're not imposing." Gibbs said. "We have plenty of food."

"Alright…" Lewis agreed.

The three of them enter into the kitchen.

"This is my friend Lewis." Tony introduced him as he pulls a chair over for his friend to sit.

"Hey." Lewis greeted them all.

"Hello." Julianna greeted him.

"Hi." Jamie also greeted him.

Chioke just waves since he doesn't think the man knows sign language.

"This is my son Chioke." Tony points to the six-and-a-half-year-old boy sitting next to him. He doesn't bother saying Chioke is adopted because Tony considers Chioke to be his son one hundred percent. That and the fact it's obvious since Chioke is African; from the country of Nigeria. "That's my wife Jamie…" He points to her; she smiles and waves. "…Who is also Gibbs' daughter." He finished the sentence. He now points to eight-year-old Julianna. "And that's Julianna; Julie or Jules for short. She's the newest addition to the family. Gibbs recently adopted her."

"It's nice to meet you all." Lewis said.

Lewis sits down. Gibbs puts a plate, bowl and utensils down in front of him.

"Thank you." Lewis thanked them. He looks at the food on the table. "This looks good."

Gibbs and Tony sit down and continue eating. Lewis reaches for the serving spoon. He puts a piece of home-made chicken parmesan onto his plate and salad into his bowl.

Some time passes.

After dinner, Lewis helps Jamie clean-up while Tony eagerly stands around waiting to show Lewis his movie collection. Gibbs would also be helping but the children kidnapped him and are holding him hostage in the other room.

"Tony!" Julianna yelled.

"What?"

"You and Lewis are the Spec Ops guys. We've kidnapped your buddy and are holding him hostage. Your mission is to save him." Julianna said. She runs back into the family room and guards the area to prevent a rescue mission. Chioke is also standing guard. And Gibbs is sitting on a chair pretending to be tied-up.

"DiNozzo, you better…" Gibbs tries to get his attention but Chioke places his hand over his mouth to silence the hostage.

"Go…" Jamie said to Lewis as she continues washing dishes. "I'll finish here."

"Looks like we need to rescue Gibbs." Lewis said.

"Let's do it." Tony said.

The rescue mission commences as the two of them approach from the side entrance to the family room. Tony opens Jamie's purse and takes out a small compact mirror. He uses the mirror to see inside the family room. Tony motions for Lewis to move in.

Lewis quickly crawls behind the couch. Tony follows. Lewis moves to the side of the couch. Tony hands him the mirror. Lewis uses the mirror to peek over the couch only to see Julianna's face right there.

Julianna jumps on Lewis' back. Chioke jumps over the couch onto Tony's back. There's a brief minute of giggling, laughter and pleading for help as Tony and Lewis are tackled to the floor. The two of them are captured. The rescue mission failed.

"Nice rescue, DiNozzo." Gibbs shakes his head in disappointment.

The kids escort the new hostages to the chair where Gibbs is sitting. Tony and Lewis sit on the floor near the chair and pretend to be tied-up.

"It's up to you to rescue us, Jamie!" Tony exclaimed. "You love me enough to rescue me, right?"

"Yeah!" Julianna agreed. "Try to rescue them Jamie!"

There's no response.

"Jamie?!" Julianna shouted.

Once again, there's no response. Chioke is standing in front of the couch looking in the direction of the kitchen because he's worried as to why Jamie isn't responding.

Julianna walks to the second entrance, the one closest to the kitchen, and exits in order to see why Jamie isn't answering. Jamie enters the family room through the other entrance and crawls behind the couch. Chioke walks closer to the second entrance as his worry and concern grows.

Jamie crawls to the hostages and pretends to untie them.

"Watch out!" Tony exclaimed.

Julianna runs in from the first entrance and jumps on her. Seconds later, Chioke also jumps on her.

"Got you!" Julianna exclaimed.

"You got me. I surrender." Jamie said.

"We win!" Julianna exclaimed in excitement.

Chioke claps from the excitement of how fun the game was, but most especially, for beating the adults.

Julianna and Chioke start a victory dance around the family room. While doing the victory dance, Chioke copies Julianna's movements.

"Aaahh!" Julianna is caught by surprise by Gibbs, hoisted into the air and held upside down. She starts giggling uncontrollably at the unexpectedness. "You're still my prisoner!"

Tony gently takes hold of Chioke and hoists him into the air. A smile stretches across Chioke's face as Tony holds him up. He thrusts his arms out to the sides like wings. Chioke is now flying around the room as Tony walks.

Gibbs now holds Julianna in such a way that she's also an airplane flying around the room.

A couple minutes pass as they continue to goof around.

Tony and Lewis walk over to his house so Lewis can borrow some movies; especially so that Tony can show-off his movie collection. Jamie and Chioke stay at Gibbs' house for a while longer in order to play.

Eventually, Jamie and Chioke leave because it's Chioke's bedtime. After the remainder of the guests leaving, Julianna gets ready for bed.

After tucking Julianna into her bed, Gibbs enters into his own bedroom and lies on the bed. He grabs Shannon's diary from the nearby nightstand. Gibbs opens the diary and continues reading.

**Shannon's diary: entry number thirty-two**

Since getting married, Jethro and I have been trying to get pregnant. We've been unsuccessful these past couple of months. So I went to the doctor today.

What the doctor said shattered my hopes and dreams in a single instant. My uterus is unable to sustain a child. And to make matters even worse, there's a problem with my ovaries. I wanted to cry. I still want to cry.

Jethro wants a child more than anything in the entire world. He talks with such passion about being a father. How can I tell him I'm unable to bear children? It'll break his heart like it has mine. But I cannot keep this from him. He's my husband. I love him. So I have to tell him. There are no secrets between us.

I don't want to go through the rest of my life not having a child. I don't want Jethro to go through the rest of his life without a child either. I don't want to believe this is happening. I refuse to believe I cannot bear children. I want to be a mother. I've wanted it for a long time. But what can I do?

I'll continue to pray for a miracle. All I want is a little girl Jethro and I can name after his sister Kelly. And I hope God will answer my prayers.

**End diary entry**

Gibbs takes a moment to remember the night when Shannon told him about the doctor's appointment. During the conversation, she seemed to not want to believe it and tried to remain positive about continuing to try. Shannon's faith in God kept her going when Gibbs felt an utter hopelessness of ever having a child.

Gibbs continues reading the diary. He reads a couple more entries.

**Shannon's diary: entry number forty-six**

I know I have written much in the past year but I'm so happy right now. This is the happiest I've been since my wedding day. A miracle has happened. I want to share the news with my husband but he's away until tomorrow. I'm just so excited. I've never been this excited in my entire life. I feel like calling him but I know I should wait until I can tell him face to face.

For more than a year I've been told by doctors that I'm unable to bear a child. But I refused to believe it and kept praying for a miracle. God has provided that miracle. I'm pregnant! Me of all people! It may have taken almost a year and a half, but I'm with child. My excitement has peeked to the point where I think I'm about to faint. I'm going to be a mother! And Jethro will finally be what he's always wanted to be; a father.

I cannot wait any longer. I have to tell him.

**End diary entry**

Gibbs closes the diary and laughs slightly. He recalls being in San Diego at the time the entry was written. Shannon told him that day. Her excitement was too big for her to contain. She boarded a plane and flew to San Diego just to tell him the news. Gibbs recalls being shocked with disbelief and thinking it was a dream. But it was real. The night was magnificent as both of them were the happiest they've ever been. They would soon be parents because in several months, their little miracle would be born.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wednesday**

**Chapter 6**

In the morning, Tony leisurely wakes up at his regular time since there's no need to rush. He looks to the nightstand and chuckles slightly at the sight of Gibbs' car key which Chioke helped steal yesterday. He gets out of bed and walks out of the room.

Tony enters into Chioke's room. After waking Chioke up, Tony leaves the room and heads to the bathroom in order to take a shower.

Eventually, Tony and Chioke exit from the house. They stand in shock at the sight next door. Gibbs' car is gone from the driveway.

"No way!" Tony exclaimed in an agitated tone.

'Where Grandpa? How he win?' Chioke signed with his hands as he's looking at Tony for an explanation of how they could've possibly lost.

"He probably had an extra car key." Tony sighed. "We'll try again tomorrow."

The two of them walk to the car and get in. The car leaves the driveway. Once the car is out of sight, Jamie exits from the house and runs down the street in the opposite direction. Near the end of the block, she turns onto the street where her father's car is parked.

Gibbs and Julianna have been waiting inside the car for a while now. Not too long ago, Gibbs discovered his car key was missing. At that moment, he knew Tony stole it. But in order to make Tony believe he lost again, Gibbs put the car in neutral and pushed it down the street.

Jamie approaches the car.

"You guys are pathetic with this race." Jamie stated as she hands him the key. "You're lucky Tony left the key on the table next to the front door."

"I'll need you to put it back later." Gibbs said.

"Let me guess… You're going to get a duplicate made."

"When Tony sees the key still on the table, it'll keep him guessing."

"And what makes you think I won't tell my husband?"

"Cause I can do this…" Gibbs said as his facial expression changes to that of the sad puppy dog face.

"Oh no…" Jamie sighed. "Don't do that."

Gibbs whimpers slightly as the sad puppy dog face continues.

"Ugh, alright." Jamie caved-in quickly at the sight of her father's facial expression because she couldn't resist it. She looks to the passenger seat where Julianna is sitting. "You better watch out for him, Jules. He can be a bad influence if you allow it. It's up to you to keep him in line." Jamie leans into the car, pushes her father against the seat and reaches her body to the passenger side. "Come here." Jamie motions for Julianna to come closer. She complies and moves in closer. Jamie whispers to her. "He's like a big cuddly teddy bear. He tries to play himself off as being the big boss man, but he's really a softy. If you play your cards right, you'll have him wrapped around your little finger in no time."

"I have him wrapped around my finger already." Julianna stated proudly.

"Good girl." Jamie praised her with a smile.

"You know I can hear you." Gibbs said.

"Hush!" Jamie exclaimed. "We ladies are chatting."

"Well this lady has to get to school." Gibbs said as he starts trying to push Jamie out the window so they can leave.

"Aahhh!" Jamie screamed slightly as her father is shoving her out the window.

Julianna giggles as she watches the playfulness between father and daughter. One of the first thoughts to cross her mind is how lucky she is to be part of this family. Jamie and Jethro are very close, like Julianna and her mother were before she tragically died. The thoughts of her mother cause Julianna to stop giggling as she's now saddened by the loss of the only real family she had left. She tries to hide the emotion.

Once Jamie is completely out the window, she leans down and points to her forehead as a request for a kiss. Gibbs leans forward and kisses her on the forehead.

Jamie watches as the car finally drives away.

During the car ride a minute later, Gibbs notices Julianna turns her body slightly toward the window; away from him. Julianna gazes out the window as she's lost in the thoughts of her mother. Gibbs can tell she's trying to hide her sadness.

At the end of their street, Gibbs pulls the car over and fully stops. Julianna looks to him as she wonders why they're not moving anymore.

"The ones we love are never truly gone, Julianna. They keep living in our memories." Gibbs said. There's a brief pause. "You're part of the Gibbs family now. It's chance for us to make some of our own memories. But your mother will always have a special place in your heart which I wouldn't even dream of trying to replace."

Gibbs leans to the passenger side and gently kisses Julianna on the forehead. The kiss on the forehead makes Julianna feel special. She knows Gibbs will never try to replace her mother, but will do his best to fill the void left behind from the loss.

Once at work, the team continues trying to figure out who their John Doe marine is. Since arriving at work, Gibbs has been in MTAC trying a different approach to identifying the mystery marine.

Eventually, Gibbs comes out of MTAC and makes his way down the stairs.

"With me, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he passes the bullpen.

"On your six, Boss." Tony said as he quickly grabs his gear and heads to the elevator.

Gibbs and Tony are now in the elevator.

"Chioke and I stole your car key yesterday." Tony commented.

"I know." Gibbs said.

"I guess you have an extra key."

"Nope."

"You hotwired your own car?"

"Nope."

"Oh…" Tony sighed as he thinks he figured it out. "You used a lock pick to start the car."

"Nope."

"Than how…?" Tony is completely confused as to how Gibbs was able to start his car this morning. "There's no way you got the key because I put it on the table next to my front door before leaving the house."

"There's another way to start a car, DiNozzo." Gibbs lied in order to throw Tony off from possibly thinking about putting the car in neutral and pushing it.

"Hold up… What other way to start a car?"

The elevator door opens and Gibbs walks off with a big smirk across his face at how he confused Tony. Tony exits from the elevator and follows.

"Boss…?"

"If I told you, DiNozzo, than you wouldn't learn." Gibbs said. "You're an investigator. Investigate the possibilities."

Tony turns away. Gibbs grabs him.

"I don't mean right now."

Gibbs and Tony leave NCIS Headquarters. They enter into a work car. The car leaves the Navy Yard.

An hour later, Gibbs parks the car in front of the Chambers residence at the marine base in Quantico. The two of them exit from the vehicle and approach the house. Gibbs knocks on the door. Seconds later, the door opens.

"May I help you?" The woman asked.

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS." Gibbs flashes his badge. "May we come in Mrs. Chambers?"

Gibbs and Tony enter into the house with Mrs. Chambers welcome. The three of them walk into the family room where Sean Chamber's mother is sitting on the couch. The two of them have been waiting for Sean to come home since he's due to arrive today.

"What's going on?" The mother wondered.

"These guys are from NCIS." The wife stated.

The wife sits down next to the mother. Gibbs and Tony sit on the couch across from them.

"Did something happen to Sean?" The wife asked in concern for her husband.

"We need you to identify the man in this picture." Gibbs said as he hands the photo over to the wife.

Mrs. Chambers starts bawling at the sight of her husband lying on an autopsy table in the picture. She falls into the mother's arms. Gibbs looks to the mother.

"This is my son Sean." The mother stated as she tries hard to hold her tears back. She hands the picture back to Gibbs.

"How could this have happen?!" The wife shouted as she turns toward Gibbs. "I spoke to him on Friday. He's supposed to come home today."

"The circumstances surrounding his death are currently under investigation."

Suddenly, the front door opens. A man steps inside.

"Honey, I'm home!" The man exclaimed. Both the wife and mother's ears perk up at the familiar voice. Gibbs and Tony turn their heads as they wonder who just walked in. "Sorry I'm late." He said as he walks into view. "You wouldn't believe the traff…" The man stops as he notices the expression on everyone's faces. The four people sitting in the family room are in complete shock and he's clueless as to why.

"Sean!" The wife screamed in excitement as she stands up and runs to her husband. She wraps her arms around him tightly.

"How dare you come here claiming my son is dead!" The mother yelled at Gibbs and Tony in anger.

"Dead?! Did I miss something here?" Sean wondered while hugging his wife who won't stop sobbing, nor let go of him.

"We sure did." Tony muttered softly to himself.

Gibbs and Tony look at the photo then look at the man standing in the entrance to the family room. The two match perfectly down to every little detail. The case has officially become more confusing since they're seeing doubles. The question is; if the real Sean is here, than who is down in Autopsy? But if the real Sean is down in Autopsy, than who is here in this house? They definitely need to sort this out and figure out who is who and which of them is the impostor.

--

**Author's Note:** At this point I have no more completed chapters. So you'll have to wait a bit longer for the next update. I'll try to post again as soon as I can.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Gibbs and Tony arrive back at NCIS Headquarters after the shocking surprise that walked through the door of the Chambers residence. The alleged Corporal Sean Chambers is with them as he agreed to assist NCIS in figuring out what's going on, and to prove he is who he says he is. Though, the corporal is skeptical about the whole thing and is expecting a prank from his marine buddies.

After parking the car and exiting from it, Gibbs' car catches Tony's eye. He wants so badly to examine the car in order to figure out how he lost this race this morning. Gibbs can tell Tony's not knowing how he lost is making him a bit antsy. Tony looks at his watch.

"It's almost time for lunch. So I'm just going to go grab a quick bite…" Tony begins to say.

"If you want to examine my car, than do it." Gibbs called him on the lie. "I have nothing to hide."

"I'll figure out your secret." Tony walks away.

"I'm sure you will, DiNozzo." Gibbs said sarcastically. He looks to the slightly confused man standing nearby. "Don't ask."

The two of them walk into NCIS Headquarters while Tony examines Gibbs' car in his valiant effort to figure out how he lost the race.

Gibbs and the alleged Sean enter into the Forensics Lab. Abby stops dancing at the sight of the man standing next to Gibbs. Her jaw drops.

"Abs…" Gibbs tries to get her attention. There's no response. He snaps his fingers in front of her. Abby snaps out of it.

Abby steps forward and places her hands onto the man's head and starts examining it.

"This is so hinky. We have a dead version of him and a live version." Abby said as she examines the man's face. "It's like something out of the Twilight Zone." She looks to Gibbs. "You better not let Tony see this because…"

"We already got the Twilight Zone talk in the car." Gibbs stated.

"Can I have my face back?" Sean asked politely. Abby retracts her hands and smiles as if she didn't do anything.

"I need you to take a blood sample." Gibbs stated. "We need a DNA comparison."

"Sit here." Abby said to the man.

Abby walks to the side in order to find equipment to take a blood sample. The alleged Sean sits down on the chair and rolls up his sleeve.

"I have the DNA analyzed for the mystery man downstairs." Abby stated. She turns around with the equipment on a little tray. "Though, you could be the mystery man since this is already confusing with two of you. I'm not saying you're the impostor… There's a chance you could be… And there's a chance you can be the original… But that's what DNA…"

"Abs…" Gibbs tries to get her attention back unto taking a blood sample.

"I'm still skeptical about this whole thing." Sean said. "I mean, that picture you showed me could've been doctored with Photoshop or something. I'm kind of just waiting for my marine buddies to jump out laughing at me."

"No one is playing a prank on you." Gibbs stated.

"I'm guessing he hasn't been downstairs yet." Abby commented.

After a minute, Abby has the sample she needs.

"All done." Abby said cheerfully.

"Let's go, Sean." Gibbs said. He and the alleged Sean begin to walk away. Abby follows. Gibbs turns around to see Abby following. "Stay." He commanded. Abby barks like a dog after hearing the word 'stay' come from Gibbs' mouth. "Abs…"

"But the look on his face is going to be priceless when he sees…"

"No."

"You're no fun." Abby pouts and turns her back to Gibbs.

Gibbs shakes his head. He and the alleged Sean leave the lab. Minutes later, they enter into Autopsy where Ducky is waiting for them. They walk to the freezer where Ducky is standing and ready to open it up.

"You weren't kidding about this one, Jethro." Ducky said in astonishment. "The similarity is remarkable."

"Show him, Duck." Gibbs said.

Ducky opens the freezer door. He slides out the mortuary trolley, or as some people refer to as a cold slab. The body is covered by a sheet. Ducky looks to the man standing on the other side. The alleged Sean nods as he's ready to see what he still thinks is a prank. Ducky pulls the sheet down to expose the head and upper body of the victim.

The man's jaw drops as it finally sinks in that this whole thing isn't a prank. He's in such shock over what he sees that he's speechless and unable to move.

"Now you see why we're confused." Gibbs stated. "Duck…" He motions his head toward the alleged Sean because he wants Ducky to examine his face.

"May I examine your face?" Ducky asked.

"Yeah, sure…" Sean said without even thinking.

Ducky steps around the slab and places his hands unto the man's face. The alleged Sean's eyes remain fixated on the identical looking man lying dead on the mortuary trolley. Ducky uses his hands and eyes to examine the man's face; looking for evidence of plastic surgery.

"From what I can tell, this man has never had plastic surgery." Ducky commented. "Though, an x-ray would help determine what I can't see and feel." He holds up a consent form for the man to sign. "If you could sign this form…" The consent form is actually for two purposes; one, consent to take the x-ray is necessary and two, a sample of his signature.

"Yeah… Okay." Sean said as he takes the form and the pen. He signs it.

They walk to the middle area of the room. The alleged Sean lies on the table as Ducky wheels over an x-ray machine. Ducky places a lead vest onto the man's chest. Once the x-ray machine is setup, he and Gibbs put on lead vests and stand behind a protective barrier which Gibbs wheeled over.

Several minutes later, Ducky turns the light box on and places two x-rays onto it for comparison. The backlighting allows Ducky to fully compare the skull features of both the men; live and victim. He takes a couple minutes to examine every aspect of the x-rays.

"This is interesting." Ducky said. "From what I can tell, neither of these men have ever had any plastic or reconstructive surgery. The only thing I can conclude is that they're the same person. I can't help you any further. You'll have to rely on DNA, Jethro."

"Thanks, Duck."

Sean, who is once again looking at the body lying on the mortuary trolley, still cannot believe what his eyes behold. He keeps thinking it's a dream. The only thing is it's not a dream. Seeing an identical person lying on the slab in front of him is a reality.

"Corporal!" Gibbs exclaimed. Sean's attention is drawn to him. Gibbs motions for him to follow.

Gibbs and the alleged Sean leave the building because Gibbs is able to tell he needs some fresh air. They walk in the direction of the Anacostia River which is directly behind the Navy Yard.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Sean said as he sits down on a bench near the water's edge. "Who the hell is that in there?!"

"Everyone knew him as David McAvoy. Do you recognize the name?"

"No."

Gibbs and the alleged Sean remain outside and talk for quite a while.

Eventually, the two of them enter into the Forensics Lab where Abby is officially done with the DNA comparison. The rest of the team is there because they heard a person identical to the victim is walking around. Tony is also in the lab.

"What do you have for me, Abs?" Gibbs asked upon entering into the lab.

"The most absolutely super hinky findings you'll ever hear." Abby said cheerfully. "And let me be the first to say, since I'm the only one who knows what I found because I…"

"Abs!"

"Right…" Abby gets back on track. She looks at Sean. "Dude, you were cloned."

"He's a clone?" Gibbs wondered if he heard right.

"Well, he might not be the clone. Though, he could be the clone. But then again, the other guy was under a completely different identity which no one can find…"

"Abs!"

"Right…" Abby gets back on track again. "The DNA samples are one hundred percent identical. I ran them twice, Gibbs. Both times came up with the same result; a match. Sean Chambers and David McAvoy are the same person."

They all look at Sean for a possibly explanation of why, how and when he was cloned.

"I seriously have no idea how this happened." Sean said.

"This reminds me of the movie The 6th Day where Arnold Schwarzenegger's character was cloned without knowing…" Tony is stopped from continuing because Ziva placed her hand over his mouth. Tony keeps explaining the movie, but the others just hear mumbling.

"Boss…?" McGee tries to get his attention. Gibbs looks to him. McGee walks to the computer and starts typing. "When we looked up Corporal Sean Chambers' record, the following is what we found."

Gibbs and Sean look at the screen.

"That's why the DNA and facial recognition software we ran yesterday got no hits. The record was altered. Only the picture and DNA were changed." McGee stated. "The alteration of the corporal's record occurred yesterday." He continued. "I managed to isolate more activity from a couple days ago. I haven't been able to pinpoint the location of where the activity took place from or who did it, but I can tell it was deleting a lot of information."

"Deleting David McAvoy…" Gibbs said.

"That would be the most logical guess." McGee said. "Someone is going to great lengths to cover this up. And the only links we have are Sean and… Umm… Well… His clone which they tried to destroy yesterday but failed."

"This is just great. I'm obviously a major kink in whatever's going on." Sean sighed. "I'm going to be killed now."

"Ziva…" Gibbs tries to get her attention. "I want you to head twenty-four/seven protection detail of Sean. Wherever he goes, you go." He now looks at McGee. "You and Abby try to figure out who hacked the system." Lastly, he looks at Tony. "DiNozzo… Stop thinking about how you lost the race this morning, get upstairs and find out what companies have the technology, finances and capability to clone the corporal."

Everyone gets to work on their assignments.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

McGee and Abby are in the Forensics Lab trying to figure out who hacked the system, changed information and deleted David McAvoy's life. The rest of the team is back on the third floor at their desks working. Corporal Sean Chambers is sitting near Ziva's desk giving her details about the past couple years of his life in the effort of finding a clue. Tony is at his desk researching companies that have the technology, finances and capability to clone a human being. The work for all three of them is tedious.

Lewis Matheson steps off the elevator with the movies Tony lent him in hand.

"No… Don't put me on…" Tony begins to say as the person on the other line puts him on hold. "…Hold." He finished the sentence. "If this lady puts me on hold one more time…"

Lewis places the stack of movies on Tony's desk.

"You watched all of those already?" Tony is surprised.

"I never went to sleep." Lewis answered.

"Stop by the house around seven and bring a couple boxes. We'll fill your trunk." Tony said. The person on the other end of the line takes him off hold and says something. "Wait, don't…" He's put back on hold. "This is getting really annoying. I've been put on hold eleven times already."

"I don't know how I was cloned!" Sean stands up from the chair near Ziva's desk. "I don't know who did it! I don't know when it occurred!"

"Calm down, Corporal." Gibbs said as he approaches. "No one is accusing you of anything. We're just trying to figure this out."

Lewis notices the picture on the plasma screen near Tony. He then looks to the man near Ziva's desk.

"Oh man…" Lewis said in shock. "This reminds me of the movie The 6th Day where Arnold Schwarzeneggar's character was cloned without kno…" He stops as he notices the three people across the bullpen are staring at him; two of which have a strange look on their faces. Tony is hiding his face behind the computer as he's about to bust out laughing. "What?" Lewis asked in the confusion of wondering why they're looking at him the way they are.

"Do you and Tony happen to share the same brain?" Ziva asked.

"Look, I want to help you, I really do." Sean said. "But I've been between Iraq and Afghanistan for the past eighteen months. I just want to go home to my wife."

A couple seconds pass as Gibbs takes a moment to think. He knows how it feels to be away from loved ones for so long.

"Ziva, take the corporal home." Gibbs said. "And take McGee with you. I want security and surveillance setup inside and around the perimeter of the corporal's house. Link it all to MTAC."

Meanwhile, at the university where Jamie attends, she walks into the cafeteria. What her eyes behold toward the back is a sight she wishes to not see. The sight angers her slightly.

Jamie approaches a back table where her friend Maddie Tyler is sitting with her uncle Jared.

"Sorry I'm late." Jamie apologized since she was supposed to meet Maddie here in the cafeteria forty-five minutes ago.

"It's alright." Maddie said. "You said there was a chance you might not make it. Your uncle kept me company. He's a pretty funny guy."

"Yeah…" Jamie said in disbelief.

"I should get going." Maddie stands up. "It was nice meeting you." She said to Jared.

"It was a pleasure." Jared said.

"See you later, Jamie." Maddie said. Then she walks away.

"Nice girl. It's a shame all I could think about was gutting her like a fish." Jared commented as he watches Maddie walk away. Jamie turns and glares at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was just chatting with a woman sitting here all by herself. I didn't know she was your friend."

"Like hell you didn't." Jamie said angrily. "You stay away from her or I'll…"

"You'll what? You'll tell my brother."

Jamie sets her bag down on the chair across the table from her uncle. She turns and swings. Jared's face whips to his left upon being decked by Jamie.

"Even with the poor vision in your left eye, you sure know how to make contact with a target." Jared said as he rubs the right side of his face.

"I'm going to get something to eat." Jamie stated in an irritated manner. "Do you want anything?"

"A bag of ice would be nice right about now."

Jamie walks away as Jared continues to rub the side of his face because his niece packs a mean punch.

A couple minutes later, Jamie returns with a tray of food. She puts a small container on table in front of her uncle, slightly slamming it down. Jared reaches for the container.

"I couldn't get a bag of ice. So I got you ice cream instead."

Jared places the small container of ice cream against the right side of his face as Jamie sits down.

"Now I have to sit Maddie down to make sure she says nothing about you to my father." Jamie stated in an agitated manner. "Then I'm going to have to explain why."

"Looks like you have your hands full." Jared said.

"For some stupid reason you love to complicate things. I don't understand why you always have to find some way of aggravating me."

"If I aggravate so much, than why do you continue to talk to me?"

"Cause for some stupid reason I want to believe I can help you."

"I can't be helped."

"You wanted to be friends…"

"It's not my fault you're the one who believes I wanted to be friends because deep down inside, I'm crying for someone to help me." Jared said. "I hate to break it to you, but what you think is completely stupid and naive."

"Than you tell me why you wanted to be friends? Explain to me why a manipulative, psychopathic serial killer… That would be you… Would suddenly have the desire to want a friend after living a life where the only real relationships you've had were with your victims in whatever sick, twisted method you used to kill them."

"That's a good question. But the answer is simple." Jared said. "I'm using you to get to my brother."

"See…" Jamie shakes her head and sighed in disbelief. "You can't even give me a straight answer."

"You're the one dismissing it." Jared said. "The answer could be straighter than you think."

"And you're full of crap. You're just afraid of actually relating to another human being so you cover your true feelings with bullshit."

Jamie and her uncle Jared continue talking while Jamie eats her food and he eats his slightly melted ice cream. They talk for another thirty minutes before Jamie's class.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Ziva and McGee are in a work car bringing Corporal Sean Chambers back home to his wife. In the trunk of the car is the equipment McGee needs to setup security inside the house and surveillance around the perimeter. The car is moving South in the direction of the Quantico Marine Base. They're roughly halfway there.

While on the highway, three black vans merge onto it. The speed of the vans increases as they're trying to catch-up to the NCIS vehicle. In the rear view mirror, Ziva notices the black vans.

Two more black vans enter onto the highway, but a couple exits in front of the NCIS vehicle. They enter onto the highway moving in the wrong direction as they're trying to box the NCIS vehicle in. The two vans in front create a barricade in the middle of the highway. The side door of each opens.

"Ziva!" McGee yelled. "Men with guns in front!"

"I see that, McGee!" Ziva exclaimed.

The men in front aim machine guns at the approaching NCIS vehicle. Ziva veers the car to the left down a slight incline of grass and finally hops onto a street below. The five vans from the highway also drive down the incline. Once at the bottom, three of the vans take other routes so only two are actually following the NCIS vehicle now.

"Where did the other vans go?!" McGee exclaimed as he's looking behind them.

"They're obviously trying to intercept us." Ziva stated.

"I should've stayed in Iraq. It was safer." Sean said.

The chase continues into an old warehouse district. While driving alongside the warehouse, one van increases speed and catches up to the NCIS vehicle. The van bashes into the passenger side and tries to push the car into a building. Ziva turns the wheel slightly to the right and bashes the van back.

After a couple times of the two vehicles bashing each other, Ziva has an idea.

"McGee, which places with me." Ziva said.

"What? Are you kidding? This isn't the time…"

"Just do it!"

McGee starts to move to the left while Ziva starts to move to the right. First, McGee reaches his foot to the gas pedal to replace Ziva foot. Next, he places his left hand onto the steering wheel, but allows Ziva to continue steering for the time being. Ziva lifts her butt from the seat and tries to move over McGee.

The van bashes into the passenger side. Due to the bump, Ziva loses her balances and her butt lands into McGee's lap. While sitting in McGee's lap, the van bashes the car again.

"I really hope that's your Sig I'm feeling, McGee." Ziva said since something is definitely poking her butt.

"Good thing Tony isn't here to see this." McGee stated.

After one more bash into the passenger side, Ziva and McGee finally move to the other's spot.

"What are you going to do?" McGee wondered as he's now driving.

"This…" Ziva said as she grabs the handle bar above the passenger side door which can be used to hang clothes from. She takes out her sidearm and thrusts her body out the broken window. With the extra height of her upper body out the window, she aims the gun at the driver's head and fires. The bullet speeds through the driver's side window of the van and penetrates into the driver's head. The van veers to the right. Ziva swings her arm toward the back, pointing behind their car and fires a couple rounds into the windshield of the van behind them.

Both vans crash into buildings.

"Two down. Three to go." Ziva said as she sits down.

A couple seconds pass.

A van races out from the other side of a building and slams into the front end of the NCIS vehicle. Both the car and van stop after the collision. Two other vans quickly enter into the vicinity.

While inside the car and a little dazed, Ziva sees a man trying to take the hurt McGee from the car. She searches the floor for her dropped weapon.

A masked man exits from one of the vans and runs to the passenger side of the NCIS vehicle. He reaches into the car, punches Ziva in the face and grabs her gun before she's able to point it at the other man. The masked man grabs Ziva and drags her out from the vehicle.

More men approach the vehicle in order to grab Corporal Sean Chambers.

Once the leading masked man takes Ziva from the car, he slams her against the vehicle and quickly punches her in the gut. Ziva falls to the ground.

The other men have McGee and Sean subdued as they surround their leader and the female NCIS agent.

The leader grabs Ziva, but she quickly swats his arm away and uppercuts him in the jaw. The man stumbles backward a bit. The surrounding men immediately aim their weapons at Ziva.

The leader waves for the men to lower their weapons. Then he looks at Ziva. He motions for her to attack him.

The two start fighting. The surrounding men remain silent as the leader told them a while ago to not make a sound due to possible voice recognition. All they do is watch the fight.

Ziva is thrown into the side of the busted NCIS vehicle. The leader approaches and slams his fist into Ziva's back. She turns and swings her right arm backward. The leader ducks under the swing. He punches her in the gut, then a quick punch to the face. Lastly, he grabs her head and rams it into the car door. Ziva drops to the ground.

While on the ground, blood drips from her mouth and head. The leader takes hold of Ziva. She tries to fight him off but after the car accident and being beat-up, her strength is significantly decreased. The leader thrusts his knee into Ziva's gut. Then he spins around for extra momentum and throws her into the side of the busted vehicle. After hitting the side of the car, Ziva falls to the ground in a bloody mess.

Two men bring McGee to the busted NCIS vehicle. They open the door to the backseat of the passenger side. One of them uses McGee's own handcuffs to tie him to the door.

The leader unloads the bullets from both Ziva and McGee's sidearm. Upon emptying the weapons, he drops them near the car. Lastly, he tosses both of their cell-phones into a dumpster nearby.

The leader motions for the others to round-up so they can leave. The half-conscious Ziva watches as the masked men take Corporal Sean Chambers and shove him into the back of one of the vans.

The vans drive away.

With McGee unable to help, Ziva uses what little strength she has to start crawling in the direction of the dumpster where the cell-phones were tossed.

Inside one of the vans, Corporal Sean Chambers is bound and gagged with a dark bag over his head. Since Sean cannot see anything, the leader takes his mask off. The expression on Jared Lucas Gibbs' face is that of shear enjoyment after the entertainment of beating up Ziva.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Not long after the incident where Corporal Sean Chambers was kidnapped from NCIS custody and Ziva beaten-up, she and McGee are back at NCIS Headquarters. With the corporal kidnapped, Ziva won't allow her pain to hinder helping the team rescue him.

The team frantically works on trying to locate where the perpetrators may have taken the corporal and whom is behind all of this mystery with the cloning. But the top priority is rescuing the corporal.

Gibbs leaves NCIS Headquarters since he has to pick-up Julianna from school. Minutes before the bell sounding, Gibbs parks the car.

The street is full of vehicles from parents waiting for their children to get out of school. About half of the parents are waiting and chatting with each other along the sidewalk in front of the school. Three school buses are in the parking lot of the school waiting for those students who need to be transported.

The bell finally rings and the parents become anxious to see their children after a long day of work. Less than a minute later, the front doors to the school open and children start rushing out.

Gibbs eagerly looks for a glimpse of Julianna within the crowd of children rushing from the building. All around him, children's face light-up at the sight of their parents. The commotion of the after school scene is something he missed. Finally, Julianna steps out of the building. She quickly looks around for her ride.

Julianna sees Gibbs standing within the crowd of parents and children. Her faces lights up like a Christmas tree. She runs down the stairs with a big smile on her face. Finally, she reaches Gibbs and wraps her arms around him.

"I thought you wouldn't pick me up today."

"What made you think I wouldn't pick you up?"

Julianna backs up and looks up at Gibbs.

"You're in the middle of a case. I thought you would be too busy to pick me up. Maybe send Jamie or someone else to do it."

"Nothing will ever keep me from picking you up from school." Gibbs assured her. "You're more important to me than any case. You come first, Julianna."

A smile stretches across Julianna's face because she knows Gibbs loves her just as much as her own mother did. Julianna places her hand into Gibbs' hand. The two of them walk in the direction of the car.

Upon arriving home, Julianna walks into the kitchen for a quick snack. As for Gibbs, he goes into the basement to think and read more of Shannon's diary.

As Gibbs is sitting next to the boat reading the diary, Julianna walks down into the basement. She sits next to him.

"What are you reading?"

"I'm reading what Shannon wanted me to find underneath the floorboard in the closet."

"Oh…" Julianna said as she figures it's something Gibbs wants privacy with. She moves up a bit as if trying to stand, but Gibbs quickly stops her by gently wrapping his right arm around her. The welcome to stay is appreciated by Julianna as she lays her head against Gibbs and he holds her close. She feels loved in his arm.

Julianna closes her eyes while Gibbs continues reading the diary.

**Shannon's diary: entry number sixty-five**

Jethro and I are proud parents of a little miracle which I gave birth to a couple days ago. Our daughter's name is Kelly Catherine Gibbs; named after Jethro's sister.

Labor was tough. But our daughter was worth the pain I endured. It was even more worth it to see Jethro's face light-up as much as it did when he saw our Kelly for the very first time. I've never seen him light-up that way before. Then he held her. Jethro couldn't hold his tears back as he looked down at Kelly's little face.

Jethro hasn't let Kelly out of his sight since she was born. His attachment to her is adorable. He'll go nowhere without Kelly and shows her off with such pride to other people. I'm happy the two of us were able to create such a beautiful little girl when every doctor I said wouldn't be able to conceive. Kelly's birth is a miracle that makes us both happy.

Jethro may have lost his sister when she was five-years-old, but I've given him the most precious gift in the entire world; a daughter. Kelly means the world to him; both of them.

The only physical reminder Jethro has about his past life with his sister, is an old raggedy stuff animal she called; Benny the Horse. He gave Benny to our daughter. Kelly immediately took to the stuffed animal, like it was always meant to be hers. She loves Benny the Horse. When the horse isn't next to her, she cries. She feels comfort at the sight of the horse. Kelly's only a week old and already has a favorite toy; a toy her father gave her. Something as simple as a stuffed animal is an object the two of them share a special bond over.

Kelly is only a week old and Jethro is getting way ahead of himself. He's talking about the future a lot. It excites him. The thought of all Kelly's firsts, such as how to ride a bike, taking her to the zoo, going camping and all other firsts are something he's looking forward to. Than of course special events as such Kelly's 16th birthday, high school prom, going off to college, all graduations and eventually walking her down the isle of her wedding. Jethro is overly excited about the thought of all of these things and also the little things like picking her up from school, etc. He doesn't want to miss a single aspect of our daughter's life.

Jethro wants to be the best father he can possibly be. I can tell he's going to be a father who loves his daughter, protects her from harm, is there for her when she needs it and will raise her to be a good person. Jethro only wishes for our daughter to be happy… But most especially, for her to know she's loved.

**End diary entry**

Gibbs closes the diary after reading the entry. He looks to Julianna and smiles as he realizes why the eight-year-old girl is still alive. Gibbs may have missed fifteen years of his daughter's life, but when Shannon's spirit attached itself to the emotional situation surrounding Julianna's car accident, it was for a reason. Shannon kept Julianna from dying in order to give Gibbs a second chance at all the things he missed while being parted from their own daughter. It's a second chance not only for Gibbs, but also for Julianna.

Gibbs' phone rings. He answers it. On the other line is Tony letting him know they have a possible location of where Corporal Sean Chambers may have been taken.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Gibbs and Julianna arrive at NCIS Headquarters where the team awaits for them. Julianna is left in the care of Jamie since the team has to follow-up on a lead to the location of the corporal. With the team working the case, Jamie takes Chioke and Julianna to a toy store for them to look around.

Once at the toy store, Julianna tries to remain calm because she feels it wouldn't be fair to ask Jamie for a toy. As for Chioke, his excitement is overwhelming because there's a Curious George toy he really wants.

They enter into the toy store. Chioke places his hand into Jamie's and tugs for her to follow him. Jamie takes Julianna's hand and the both of them comply with Chioke's will for them to follow in the direction he wants to go.

Once in the section of toys that Chioke wants to be in, his eyes catch a glimpse of a new Curious George play set. He becomes overly excited and runs to it. Jamie and Julianna approach. Chioke looks to Jamie.

'Can have?' Chioke signed with his hands. Jamie can't resist the cuteness in his eyes so she takes a quick look at the price of the play set.

"Since you've been such a good, helpful boy lately, I'll get it for you." Jamie said with a smile.

Chioke's happiness is overwhelming. He jumps up and down in excitement as Jamie takes the play set from the shelf.

Jamie could tell Julianna feels somewhat left out and a little uneasy. She's trying to hide it, but is too easily readable for Jamie.

"Jules…" Jamie tries to get Julianna's attention. The eight-year-old girl looks to her. "Find something you want."

"Really?!" Julianna's excitement grew at the thought of getting a new toy. Jamie nods with a smile.

Julianna looks around to see where she wants to go. There are so many options and directions to choose. After a couple seconds, she makes a choice as to which direction to take. As Julianna walks in the direction she wants to go, Jamie and Chioke follow her.

Once in an area where Julianna wants to be, Chioke is at the front of the isle checking out a hacky sack. He picks it up and is unsure what's inside of it, but it feels interesting.

Jamie and Julianna walk out from the isle with a toy she wants.

"Come on Chioke. Time to go." Jamie said.

Chioke looks at the hacky sack. He wants to play with it for a while. The confliction between stealing and remembering what Tony said clouds his mind. He believes what Tony said can't be wrong. Finally, Chioke stuffs the hacky sack into his pocket.

After paying for the two toys, the three of them walk in the direction of the exit. With each step, they get closer and closer to the walkthrough scanners at the exit.

A loud beeping goes off as Chioke steps through the scanner. The loud noise of the walkthrough scanner is a sound he's never heard before. He's quickly frightened by the noise, covers his ears, stumbles to the side and his back smashes into the right side of the scanner. The impact causes the right side of the scanner to break. Chioke falls to the ground with it.

"Oh my God… Chioke!" Jamie kneels down to aid him. Luckily, he's unharmed as he's just extremely frightened. He quickly sits up and clings to Jamie.

"Is your son alright?" The store manager asked in concern as he approaches to find out what happened.

"My son is fine." Jamie stated. "He's just a little frightened, that's all." She helps him up. Chioke clings to Jamie's leg. Julianna rubs Chioke's back to help calm him down. Jamie looks to the store manager. "That alarm was a sound he's never heard before, so it startled him. He's from Nigeria."

"I see." The manager acknowledged. "Are you sure he's alright?"

"He'll be fine once he calms down."

"Don't worry about the scanner." The manager said. "But I will need to look at the items you purchased."

"Here…" Jamie hands him the bag.

The store manager checks the items in the bag against the receipt. He approaches the closest cash register isle and quickly scans the items. He does this to make sure the magnetic strip is deactivated and the bar code registered properly in the system as product being purchased. He walks back to the customers.

"Some these things don't scan properly. It happens." The manager hands her the bag. "Try it again."

"Jules…" Jamie hands the bag to Julianna.

Julianna takes the bag and walks through the other scanner. She walks through with no problem.

"I guess we'll get going." Jamie said.

"Have a nice evening." The manager said.

Jamie walks through the scanner. There's no problem.

Chioke steps closer to the walkthrough scanner. He puts his fingers in his ears and slowly walks through. Once again, the alarm sounds upon detecting the bar code for the hacky sack. Chioke leaps from the scanner.

The manager notices a slight bulge in Chioke's side pocket. Jamie notices the bulge too.

"Empty your pocket, son." The manager said in a firm, but polite tone of voice.

"Chioke…" Jamie tries to get his attention. He looks to her. "What's that in your pocket?"

Chioke reaches into his pocket and pulls out the hacky sack. He gives the hacky sack to Jamie.

"I'm so sorry." Jamie said to the manager. She looks to Chioke. "Why did you steal this?" She said in reference to the stolen hacky sack. "You know better." She gets no response as Chioke looks downward in shame. "Chioke... Why did you steal…"

'It not steal if going to give back.' Chioke signed with his hands. 'I was going to give it back after play with it for while.'

"Where did you get an idea like that?"

'Daddy.' Chioke signed. 'He say it not steal if going to give back.'

"Okay, I know how this happened." Jamie said as she looks to the store manager. "My father and my husband have this stupid race where whoever leaves their driveway first, wins. That's the gist of it." She started an explanation. "Last night, my husband had a plan to steal my father's car key so he would win the race. His desire to win must have clouded his judgment in what he told my son… My husband distracted my father while my son took the car key. Basically, this is my husband's fault since he told my son it's not considered stealing if you're going to give it back."

"This is a small item, so it's no big deal." The manager said. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Thank you."

The store manager walks away. With a face full of sadness, Chioke looks up at Jamie.

'I in trouble?' Chioke signed.

"No." Jamie assured him. "But Tony sure is."

Chioke looks to Julianna and a couple tears fall from his eyes as he hangs his head in the shame of what he thinks she thinks about him right now. Julianna steps closer and places her hand into Chioke's. She knows it wasn't his fault. Her smile and comforting touch makes him feel a lot better.

The three of them leave the store.

Meanwhile, the team is on route to an undisclosed research facility which they suspect as being the location of where the cloning occurred. Also, it's the location which they believe the masked men may possibly be taking the corporal to. Since someone is trying to cover their tracks, than the lab is the most logic place to be since evidence may lie there.

Unfortunately for Gibbs, his brother Jared and his lackeys are much closer to the research facility than they are and will make it there first.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

At the undisclosed research facility, Jared Lucas Gibbs and a couple of his lackeys enter into one of the labs on the third floor. The lackeys carry the unconscious Sean Chambers into the room. The men drop Sean near the walk-in freezer which the scientist uses to store frozen specimens and samples.

"Hello doctor." Jared greeted him in a sinister voice.

"I'm handling the situation." The doctor said. "Tell Mr. Bens…" Jared punches the man in the face before he can finish the sentence. The doctor stumbles backward into a countertop. A couple glass containers break upon the impact with his arm. "I told you I'm handling the situation!"

"So am I." Jared smiled evilly.

Jared grabs the doctor and throws him into the wall. After slamming against the wall, the doctor falls to the floor. Jared steps closer and kicks him in the face.

To the side against a wall, something catches Jared's eye. It's a cabinet with a glass door. Inside the cabinet are dangerous chemicals. Jared walks away from the doctor, puts on a thick rubber glove, opens the cabinet and takes out a container of sulfuric acid.

Jared covers his nose and mouth with his free hand. He approaches the doctor.

"No wait!" The doctor pleaded while sitting against the wall.

Jared throws the glass container of sulfuric acid at the doctor's face. The glass breaks upon impact against the side of his head and starts burning him. The doctor screams as the sulfuric acid burns his skin.

Jared backs away and enjoys the invigorating sight of a man's skin burning off from his body. As Jared enjoys the view, the other guys spread gasoline around the rest of the laboratory.

Once the spread of gasoline is complete, Jared's lackeys leave. Jared finally walks to the entrance, lights a match and tosses it into the lab. Flames quickly consume the laboratory.

The fire alarm in the building sounds. The clear door to the laboratory closes in order to contain the fire.

Jared runs away as he hears some commotion in the stairwell. He uses the back stairwell to escape.

Gibbs and the team run down the hallway in the direction of the laboratory used by a specific scientist. Through the clear door, they see the lab is consumed in flames. Gibbs can hear a faint yelling and banging from inside the lab. Someone in the laboratory is alive.

"McGee! Get this door open!" Gibbs barked.

"But it's closed to contain…" McGee argued.

"There's someone alive in there! Open it!"

"I could try to override the system." McGee steps closer to the command console for the door, opens it and starts messing with wires.

"You two with me…" Gibbs motions for Tony and Ziva to follow him.

"On your six, Boss." Tony said.

They return with a couple fire extinguishers that they found around the other labs and rooms on the same floor.

"I'm still trying to figure this out." McGee stated.

"Find more fire extinguishers!" Gibbs barked at Tony and Ziva. The two of them run down the hall.

"We're not going to be able to put this fire out, Boss." McGee said.

"I know that, McGee." Gibbs acknowledged them not being able to fight the blaze.

"Than why…"

"Because someone is in the freezer to the side of the lab." Gibbs answered. "Get the door open now!"

Tony and Ziva return with another three fire extinguishers. Now, they have eight in total. Gibbs, Tony and Ziva each prepare with a fire extinguisher for when the door opens.

"I managed to start the exhaust fan inside the lab." McGee stated. "It should help. But the sprinkler system is offline."

"We want the door open, McGee!" Gibbs barked.

"Do we really want the door open?" Tony wondered. "I mean, the fire is contained…Oh man…" A movie just popped into his head. "Has anyone else seen the 1991 movie Backdraft with Kurt Russell, William Baldwin and Robert de Niro? We're going to be screwed if that fire is starving for oxygen…" He notices Gibbs glaring at him. "I'll shut up."

"Do you think I would do this if I thought a backdraft would occur?"

"Yes." Tony said. Gibbs smacks him on the back of the head.

"The fire doesn't show the warning signs of a backdraft going to occur, well, not yet anyway." McGee stated.

"Nobody asked you, Probie."

"Opening the door in four, three, two…" McGee counts down. "One…"

McGee taps two wires together. The door to the lab opens. Tony and Ziva spray their fire extinguisher contents into the lab to reduce the fire near the entrance.

As Tony and Ziva continue to spray upon entering into the lab, Gibbs tosses his fire extinguisher in the direction they need to move. Gibbs quickly pulls out his sidearm, aims and fires at the fire extinguisher.

The bullet hit the fire extinguisher. Because of the compression, the fire extinguisher explodes spreading its content in the general area.

The three of them move in the direction of the walk-in freezer where Corporal Sean Chambers is. He's been in the freezer since the flames started to consume the lab.

McGee remains at the entrance with the rest of the fire extinguishers. Smokes escapes from the lab causing the sprinkler system in the hallway to go off. McGee begins to get soaked by water.

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva continue to advance into the burning lab.

Gibbs tosses another fire extinguisher. He pulls out his sidearm, aims and fire. The fire extinguisher explodes and the contents disperse in the general area.

As they advance further to the right in the direction of the freezer, Ziva sees a child-like figure standing in the flames.

"Help me!" The child-like figure screamed in pain.

Ziva freezes in her tracks as what she hears is the sound of her son Isaac calling for helping. The screams of the four-year-old consume her. The memories of her son's death inside a burning home flood her mind in an echo of a haunting past life. Her side, which was severely burned while trying to save him, begins to hurt. The memories are too much for her to bear. She feels lightheaded and faints.

"Get her out of here!" Gibbs barked at Tony.

Tony grabs Ziva and takes her to safety.

Seconds later, Gibbs reaches the freezer. He could tell the smoke is already taking its toll on him, but he cannot leave the corporal to die. There's no leaving a man behind, not for Gibbs. Once a marine, always a marine; is his motto.

Out in the hallway, Tony places Ziva on the floor out of harm's way.

"We need to toss the rest of the fire extinguishers inside." Tony stated as he tosses one of them into the lab, toward the right.

"Are you sure? We might need…" McGee begins to say.

"Trust me!" Tony exclaimed. "Toss them!"

They toss the remaining three into the lab. For a couple seconds they hear nothing.

"Come on, Gibbs." Tony said softly to himself because he's concerned. Still, there's nothing.

Finally, one of the fire extinguishers explodes after being shot. Gibbs shoots another fire extinguisher; it explodes. He and the corporal make their way thru the blaze. Gibbs shoots the next fire extinguisher.

After the fourth fire extinguisher exploding, Gibbs and the corporal exit from the lab. McGee quickly overrides the command console and the clear door to the lab closes.

Gibbs falls to the floor of the hallway.

"Boss…" Tony kneels down to help him.

"I'm fine… I'm just going to lie here for a minute." Gibbs said. A couple seconds later, he lifts his head slightly and looks at Tony. "Tell me all the evidence about the cloning isn't in that lab."

"Uh…" Tony hesitated to respond.

"I thought so." Gibbs closes his eyes and places his head back onto the wet floor. Their case literally went up in flames. And most likely they'll never find out who is the financial supporter behind the cloning project.

After a minute, Gibbs' eyes open widely. He hears the faint whistling of the Gilligan's Island theme song. There's only one person he knows who constantly whistles that tune. Gibbs knows his brother Jared is in the building; most likely in the back stairwell.

"All of you get out of the building. We're done here." Gibbs said to the team. "I'll meet you out front in a minute."

Gibbs makes his way to the back stairwell while the others use the front stairwell and eventually exit from the building.

Gibbs approaches the door to the back stairwell. He draws his sidearm, opens the door and quickly steps through. On the other side, Jared grabs his brother's gun and shoves him onto the stairs going upward to the roof. With Gibbs lying on the stairs, Jared aims the weapon at him.

"Too much smoke inhalation slowed you down, brother." Jared stated. "We have to stop these confrontations of ours."

"What are you doing here, Jared?" Gibbs asked in a slightly agitated tone of voice.

"I just wanted to say, hi, to my favorite baby brother."

"What a load of crap." Gibbs said. "Let me guess, you have something to do with the fire in the lab."

"Can't we have a family reunion these days without me being accused of wrongdoing?"

"Than what are you doing here?"

"Starting a fire." Jared smiles evilly. "It was the only way to ensure the evidence was destroyed." He said. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If you haven't realized it by now, I'm kind of affiliated with Geoffrey Benson."

"That explains how you knew the locations of those terrorist cells a while back."

"Geoffrey has unlimited resources at his disposal. Those resources really came in handy with that deal I was able to make with your federal agencies to forgive my murders." Jared said. "It's kind of ironic how federal agencies try to put people like me away, yet, I still roam free because…"

"Cut the crap, Jared. What do you want?"

"To give you information." Jared said. "Geoffrey Benson thinks he has me under control. But really, I'm playing him for a fool. You see, we kind of have this deal which I won't get into the specifics of. But I deviated from the deal as I have my own agenda." He continued. "Geoffrey has an interesting business plan which I'm particularly interested in. I won't bore you with the details. But I will say this… In one year's time, an extremely nasty, genetically altered virus will be released. The countdown to the release of the virus begins today."

"You're going to kill millions of people." Gibbs said in disbelief of how insane his brother has become. Jared evolved beyond what Gibbs ever thought possible.

"That's pretty much the point." Jared tosses a syringe to his brother. "Put it to your neck and inject yourself."

"What's this?"

"Let's just say I can't have you remembering this conversation." Jared answered. "I really just wanted to see the expression on your face when I told you about my plan." He said. "Either inject yourself or I put a bullet in your head."

Gibbs injects the contents of the syringe into his neck. Within seconds, Gibbs' can hardly keep his eyes open.

"Nighty night, brother." Jared said as he gives his brother's sidearm back. Then he disappears from the area.

After a minute, Gibbs opens his eyes.

Gibbs looks around in confusion as he's unsure how he came to be in the stairwell lying on the stairs. He has no recollection of what happened. The last thing he remembers is lying on the wet floor outside of the lab.

Eventually, Gibbs exits from the building. A couple fire trucks and two ambulances are outside. The team is being treated by paramedics.

Corporal Sean Chambers is safe and the case is unofficially over. And only Jared knows of the conversation he and his brother had in the stairwell.

--

**Author's Note:** In this chapter, I made two Jamie Series references. The first reference is in regards to Ziva's son Isaac. If interested in reading more about Isaac, you can find more information in the past stories "For the Love of a Child" being the first mention and more information in "Forced Alliance" with how he died. The second reference is in regards to Jared's plan which will be a future story; actually, it refers to the series finale which is a couple stories down the road.

Lastly, there's one more chapter left to this story just so you know.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thursday**

**Chapter 13**

Julianna has been in Gibbs' temporary trial custody for a week now. In that time, they haven't gone to her house in order to gather her belongings and move them to Gibbs' house. Julianna has been afraid to go to the house she grew-up in until the car accident.

After the week, Gibbs finally convinces her to go the house with him. They arrive at the Sullivan residence. As she steps out of the car and looks at her house, sadness hits her. Julianna recalls a time when she and her mother were out in the front yard playing in a pile leaves. It was autumn and they raked all the leaves on the front lawn in a huge pile then they jumped into it.

Gibbs takes out a couple boxes from the back seat as Julianna stares into her memories. The boxes are folded which is a space-saver until they're needed. After taking the folded boxes and some bubble wrap from the car, he approaches Julianna.

Gibbs places his hand on Julianna's shoulder as he could tell she's recalling memories and that being at the house is hard for her. The watery eyes of the eight-year-old girl seem to be a dead give-away.

"You don't have to do this right now if you don't want to." Gibbs stated.

"No… I want to."

The two of them walk toward the house using the stone pathway in front. Julianna's heart rate increases with every step she takes. Finally, they reach the front door.

Gibbs puts a key into the lock and turns it. The door opens. The two of them walk inside the house.

Once inside the house, Gibbs is amazed at how nice it looks. Julianna's mother did an excellent job at decorating the place.

"My mom was an interior decorator." Julianna stated.

"It's nice." Gibbs said. He looks down to her. "Whatever you want to be moved to my house, we'll move it there. Anything you want."

"I just want to start packing my stuff." Julianna said. "I'll be in my room."

"Alright." Gibbs said. "If you need me to help or unfold the boxes, just let me know."

Julianna takes a couple boxes, walks away and goes upstairs to her room. Gibbs remains on the ground floor looking around at the beautifully decorated home.

On the wall in the family room, Gibbs notices a picture. Actually, he sees lots of pictures all over the room. But the one on the wall catches his eye. He approaches the picture.

The picture on the wall is of Julianna and her mother in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The two of them look so happy in the picture. Gibbs recalls Shannon taking a picture of him and their daughter in front of the Lincoln Memorial one time. Both pictures seem to be in almost the exact same spot.

Gibbs walks around and looks at all the other pictures. The majority of all the pictures in the room seem to be of Julianna and her mother. In each of them where the husband is absent from it due to being the one operating the camera, Julianna's mother always has her arms wrapped around her daughter. Gibbs could tell Julianna's mother loved her very much.

Two hour pass.

With Julianna's belongings packed and ready to go, she exits from the room and walks down the hall to her mother's room. While in her mother's room, Julianna takes a picture from the nightstand. The picture is of her and her mother. She sits on the bed and stares at it.

Gibbs enters into the room as he was wondering where Julianna went. He sees Julianna sitting on the bed crying. The loss of her mother is still so fresh in her mind.

"Are you okay, Julianna?" Gibbs asked, even though he knew she wasn't. He sits on the bed next to her.

"My mom was the only person who called me Julianna. Everyone always calls me Julie or Jules."

"Do you want me to stop calling you Julianna?"

"No." She responded. "What I don't want is for you to ever call me Julie or Jules."

"Julianna it is." Gibbs kisses her on the forehead.

The doorbell rings.

"That must be the movers." Gibbs said. "I'll be right back." He stands up and leaves the room.

Gibbs opens the door to let the movers in. He gives them directions as to what to take. After giving the movers directions, he goes back upstairs. Gibbs enters into the room he left Julianna only find her sleeping on the bed with the picture of her and her mother in her arms.

Gibbs smiles as he approaches the bed. He gently takes the picture from Julianna's arms. As he looks at the happy picture, an idea suddenly popped into his head. Gibbs is going to keep his promise to Julianna about never forgetting what her mother looks like.

Gibbs leaves the room and closes the door in order to not let the noise disturb Julianna while she's sleeping. Once downstairs, he grabs one of the leftover folded boxes and some bubble wrap. He unfolds the box and walks into the family room. Gibbs takes the picture of Julianna and her mother in front of the Lincoln Memorial from the wall and wraps it.

After about forty-five minutes, the movers have moved everything from Julianna's bedroom. Gibbs asks them to move one more thing which he feels Julianna would want, even though she never said anything. The movers comply with the request and move the thing to the truck.

The movers leave as they're now on route to Gibbs' house. Luckily, Tony and Jamie are there to let the movers in once they arrive. So Gibbs is in no rush to leave the Sullivan residence.

Gibbs goes upstairs to the room where Julianna is still sleeping peacefully on her mother's bed. He sits on the chair in the corner of the room and watches her sleep for a couple minutes as he can't bring himself to disturb her slumber.

Eventually, Gibbs gently lifts the sleeping child into his arms. He leaves the house with her.

An hour later, Julianna wakes up. She realizes she's in her new home; on the couch in the living room of Gibbs' house. Julianna can't believe she fell asleep and forget to mention the most important thing she wanted from her house.

In the foyer of the house, Gibbs and the social worker are talking.

"Good evening." The social worker greeted her. "I didn't know if you would wake-up during this unexpected visit."

"Hi." Julianna greeted her back. She looks to Gibbs. "Jethro, I forgot to ask you if I could take my piano."

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't have to ask." Gibbs said. "I thought you might have wanted it. The piano is in the family room."

"Really?!" Julianna practically jumps with happiness. She runs away, into the family room. She screams in excitement at the sight of her piano. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" Julianna said as she runs in and wraps her arms around Gibbs' waist.

"There's a surprise in your room." Gibbs said. Julianna takes her arms off from around Gibbs and runs away to go upstairs.

"I'm impressed so far, Agent Gibbs." The social worker stated. "I certainly had my doubts about granting custody to you. I heard you're getting Julianna to school on-time and picking her up afterwards. She seems to be quite happy. But this is still a temporary trial..."

They hear a scream coming from upstairs. The social worker quickly runs as she thinks Julianna is in trouble or hurt. Gibbs leisurely walks because he knows it was a scream is shear happiness.

The social worker enters into Julianna's room to find her standing in the middle of the room with the biggest smile she's ever seen on a little girl. On the walls of the room and on every piece of furniture are pictures. Gibbs took every single picture he could find around Julianna's house and put them into her room. With the majority of the pictures being of Julianna and her mother, there's no way she'll ever forget what her mother looks like.

Julianna runs to the entrance of her room where Gibbs now stands next to the social worker. She wraps her arms around his waist again.

"You kept your promise." Julianna said with a smile while continuing the hug.

The social worker cracks a slight smile at the sight of how happy Julianna is. All she ever wanted is for Julianna to be in a good home with someone who will love and provide for her. She really did have her doubts about granting custody of Julianna to Gibbs and the only reason this happened is because of the interview she had with Jamie. Jamie convinced her to give her father a chance and it seems to be working much better than she ever expected. The temporary trial period will continue for the next couple of months just to make sure. But Julianna's smile says a lot to her.

Eventually, the social worker leaves after completing the surprise visit.

Later in the night, Julianna is sitting at her piano playing it. Jamie enters into the home. She walks into the family room after receiving a kiss on the forehead from her father.

"I have something for you, Jules." Jamie said as she approaches the piano with the item behind her back.

"Hi Jamie…" Julianna greeted her. "What do you have for me?"

"When I was younger, I had a special toy which…" Jamie begins to talk as she sits down on the piano bench.

From the entrance to the family room, Gibbs watches as the two of them talk. Behind Jamie's back he can see Benny the Horse; the toy which was original his sister's that he gave to his daughter when she was born. He can't help but smile as Jamie passes the toy onto Julianna. Though Julianna isn't related to them through blood, Gibbs considers her to be his daughter. The passing of Benny the Horse seems to be a magical moment for him to witness.

"You know, I used to play the piano when I was your age." Jamie stated. "I play the violin now. But ever since my dad came back into my life, I've wanted to get back into the piano."

"I'm really good." Julianna said. "I could help you get back into it."

"I'd like that."

Julianna places Benny the Horse on the piano bench between her and Jamie.

"We'll start with something simple." Julianna said. She takes hold and Jamie's hands and places them to some piano keys. "Place your fingers here…" She directs Jamie's fingers to specific keys.

Tony and Chioke enter into the house. They greet Gibbs at the entrance to the family room then walk inside to greet Jamie and Julianna. After the greetings, Tony and Chioke sit down on the couch in order to enjoy the sound of the piano and color some pictures together.

Gibbs watches as Julianna teaches Jamie a simple tune. He continues to watch for quite some time as the two of them play the piano together, joke around, laugh and chat; almost like they're true sisters.

Shannon gave Gibbs two precious gifts. Gift one being Jamie; a daughter through blood. Gift two being Julianna; a daughter kept from dying in order to give them both a second chance.

Gibbs walks to the couch after being invited by Tony to color with them. Gibbs, Tony and Chioke color pictures while listening to Jamie and Julianna play the piano. This is his family. And Gibbs couldn't be happier.

--

**THE END**

This concludes the story "The Two of Me". Coming soon will be the next story in this series. But until then, I hope you enjoyed this story.


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